Advertising material can be displayed in a wide variety of locations at conference venues, exhibition halls, sporting events and the like. In modern venues more and more initiative is being shown in finding useful and creative ways for supporting advertising materials. One such surface is the outward face of risers on flights of stairs. The choice of this location is not new and it has been used in football grounds for example, for some time. However, this tends to be for permanent adverts such as the home club's logo or for sponsor's details. An entirely difference situation is found at conference venues when the advertising material must be changed prior to every event. Traditionally, such advertising is secured to the step riser by some form of adhesive, which enables the advert to be peeled off after the event, leaving no trace behind it. Typically this is achieved by using card, plastic or light metal boards with an adhesive backing.
Because stairways can be heavily trafficked and represent a potential health and safety hazard, special care must be taken to keep them safe and free from tripping hazards. If, during an event, a piece of advertising on a stair tread riser comes loose, the entire item must be removed immediately. If the item is part of a larger display then the whole display must be taken down. When one considers that many staircases are carpeted, including the risers, this presents a real challenge to the advert installer. A strong adhesive is required which will withstand scuffs and knocks from the footware of those using the staircase. However, the adhesive must leave no trace when the advertising strip is removed. Such requirements are mutually exclusive and thus stair risers are not used as an advertising medium as much as they might be.
In public areas, advertising material may be subjected to unwanted vandalism or theft. Accordingly, it is highly desirable to provide means for preventing the unauthorised removal of the advertising material, whilst still enabling authorised personnel to install or remove the advertising material quickly and easily.
It is the object of the present invention to overcome or mitigate some or all of the problems outlined above.